AAMA News

Window & Door Magazine | Decoded Columns

2018

Enforced Codes Work; Lessons from Irma, Part 1, March/April (by Dean Ruark, P.E. (PGT Innovations))Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida on Sept. 10, 2017. It hit the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane with 130 miles per hour winds before moving slowly up the Florida peninsula as it weakened in intensity. Loss estimates for the storm range from $25 billion to $65 billion, according to a November 2017 article in the Insurance Journal, insurancejournal.com.

Code Arena

Fond Farewell, January/February (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))Thirty years ago, I was fired for refusing to work on a Saturday.

I understood that there were 2,000 storefront anchors that had been misfabricated. I understood the contractor needed calculations that showed which anchors could still be used as fabricated, and which needed to be corrected and what that correction should be. I also understood those corrections needed to be made and all the anchors needed to be in place by the time the nine concrete trucks came to pour the slab on Monday morning.

2017

International Code Requirements for Residential Windows & Doors, December (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))The family of International Codes published by the International Code Council is the most widely used in the history of U.S. construction codes. In addition to their widespread use throughout the 50 states, numerous federal agencies—including the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Defense—have also adopted the International Codes. Due to this adoption by federal agencies, I-codes began being enforced in countries other than the U.S, including the Middle East. This reliance on the International Codes has now spread to other countries.

The International Energy Conservation Code: Changes to Prescriptive Values for 2018, October/November (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))The International Energy Conservation Code has evolved greatly since its first edition in 1998. Overall, significant strides have been made in improving the energy performance of buildings. Based upon analysis performed by the U.S. Department of Energy, energy.gov, and others, buildings built to the 2015 IECC use less than half the energy of buildings built to the 1998 IECC.

Reduced Requirements for EEROs, September (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))With regard to the 2018 International Codes, one of the biggest disappointments for the fenestration industry is a reduction in the number of emergency escape and rescue openings required for sleeping rooms in the basements of multifamily buildings and single-family homes.

The Tiny House Movement: 2018 IRC to include appendix for tiny houses installed on a permanent foundation, August (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))Most people consider owning a home to be the American dream. Typically, this home would include a kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, and multiple bedrooms and bathrooms. But some people dream of owning a “tiny home,” defined as a house that measures less than 400 square feet in area.

Update to Existing Referenced Standards, June/July (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))Our review of the 2018 International Codes continues this month with a discussion about the update of existing referenced standards. There have been numerous instances where standards that were developed through meticulous adherence to ANSI or ASTM protocols were rejected due to concerns about the standard’s content.

Change is in the Air: Changes to Design Wind Pressures in the 2018 IRC, May (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))The content of the 2018 International Building Code and 2018 International Residential Code has been finalized. We can now start to prepare for the potential impact of these new provisions in the marketplace.

A New Era: The Online Governmental Consensus Vote could change how codes are developed, March/April (Julie Ruth (JRuth Code Consulting))The Final Action for the International Code Council Group B Code cycle has finally been determined. It took longer than usual for the 2016 ICC Group B Code cycle because of the addition of the Online Governmental Consensus Vote after the conclusion of the Public Comment Hearings, but it did not take as long as it did for the 2015 ICC Group A Code cycle.

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